Penguin RushKingdom of Heaven, indeedio
Ridley Scott has been criticised for making this movie for two reasons; taking Orlando Bloom as the lead actor and that the crusade premise might cause rifts between Christians and Muslims. After the movie is released, critics have been raving again. Not because the previous criticisms turn out to be true, but actually to the contrary.Mr. Bloom is indeed climbing his career to become one of the next generations of A-list Hollywood actors. He managed to carry the heavy burden of leading the film as Balian, the son who never knew his father, who just lost his son and wife and got tangled up in decades long of war. Although the (future) success of this movie will not (apparently) depend on his role alone, but he gave a commendable effort. This movie is much better than Gladiator in all aspects, Mr. Ridley Scott (the director).
Regarding the image of Islam in the movie, Islam and Muslims are put in good light indeed. Finally, Hollywood somewhat recognises the true image of Islam and portrays that to the world. In one scene, Balian asked Saladin, the Muslim king, why Saladin let all the people (men, women, children and old folks) go unharmed when the Christians had before killed everyone during their invasions at Muslim cities. Saladin replied, “I am not one of those people, I am Saladin, you know, Saladin…” And I’m just quoting one scene only. Indeed, true Muslims are not barbarians, unlike some people who still exist today and ignited destruction (in the first place) throughout the world. Got the message?
All I can say is that, despite Balian being the main character in the movie, Muslims are the good side here. The final battle scene is somewhat a reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings movies. If in the LOTR movies, we fear for the lives of those people within the walls of Helms Deep and Minas Tirith. But in Kingdom of Heaven, I find myself cheering for Saladin armies, outside the walls of Jerusalem. I’m sure all would agree indeed (unless you helplessly have a crush on Orlando Bloom).
Although the battle scenes are nothing new (pretty much), but they are still brilliantly done. The movie pace is engaging, the acting is above average while the overall directing deserves two thumbs up. I highly recommend this movie to all.
Speaking of heaven, Ija and the other Umrah travellers safely arrived at the KL Airport before 7 in the morning today. We send sms to each other throughout the day until I call her up around 6pm. It’s good to hear her voice again, and knowing that she is in the same country. Heaven indeed... Although I have to say, the call quality was much better when she rang me up from Mecca. What’s up with our local mobile operators, I wonder?
P/S: WATCH OUT FOR TONS OF REVIEWS ON MOVIES AND MUSIC VIDEOS, PLUS LISTS OF TOP TEN MOVIES - COMING SOON IN MY WEBSITE.
posted by The Pisces Man @ 2:53 pm
1 Comments:
Kingdom of Heaven sounds fantastic. I might give it a try some time next week. I don't know if Ridley Scott's showing Muslims in a better light was his conscious intent in doing so or just a side effect of having the story the way it is. Furthermore, I would guess showing Muslims in a bad light in these days would cause attract the complaints of various Muslim groups and associations in the United States, and God knows Ridley wouldn't want that. ;)
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